The Only Survivor
Blurb When a killer hyena takes over Erica's land, she and her remaining kit will have to stay in an unknown Clan full of magical lions that can cast spells on others; some have natural powers that can kill. While Frost and Erica finally feel at home, an evil lurks and will do anything to get power..... Don't miss the next really, really, really good book in The Only Survivors Series: ''Fate is on My Side Prologue In the darkness, you could barely make out three shapes; A queen, and two kits. One kit shivered and mewled. The other was still, except for the rising of it's chest. The queen nudged that kit. "Little kit, you must feed." She mewed softly. She prodded the kit with a paw, and the kit mewed in protest. The kit seemed to try to get to his mother's belly, because he was twisting and turning everywhere. Suddenly, the queen moaned as a ripple went through he stomach. Footsteps sounded right after that, like the footsteps were waiting. In came a dusty tom with blue eyes, and his pupils were widened. "Erica," He mewed. "I will help you." As the rippling stopped, a kit came out. Then another. "No need for help." Erica purred. "I've got four helpers right here." She pointed with her tail at her four suckling kits, and the tom purred. "A beautiful litter.....a beautiful litter." "Sammy! Wake up!!" The shrill of Erica filled the den. The brown tom with black stripes was frozen solid. No rise or fall was seen on his chest. "Sand! Wake Sammy!" Sand prodded Sammy with a paw. For a few moments Sammy was at the brisk of death. Then he happily sat up, eyes blinking with happiness. Erica was in the middle of washing her kits when a yelping noise was heard in the distance. ''Sand! ''Erica scrambled to her paws. "Sand!! Sand!!! Sand!!!! Help!!!!!" She yowled. Erica scented blood in the air, the bitter tang making her eyes water. Finally, Sand staggered into Erica's den. But something was still not right. Erica still scented blood. Then it hit her. Erica looked closer at Sand. He had a giant cut on his neck that was dripping with blood. "Hyena......Save the kits......leave me here....." Sand rasped. The happy twinkle that was usually in his eyes were not there. His fur, usually smooth and silky, was now caked with blood. The most noticeable thing on his body since the hyena attack was his eyes; they were ''cut. ''Claw marks were all over them. The hyena had won. Erica had moved into a faraway den since Sand, the only match, the only memory card that matched her's, died. She had moved because she thought her kits were next, and she ''thought ''that there were no more hyenas. ''Wrong. '' Two moons after Sand's death, Erica had to hunt for her kits, because they no longer drank the refreshing, satisfying milk that their mother produced. Who protected them while Erica was gone? Erica. Erica let the kits watch during a hunt. Like a lion, Erica was huge; before Sand died, Erica was about a fox-tail-length taller than him. Erica was creeping through the darkness. Her kits were following right behind her. Erica spotted a fat, juicy looking zebra. "Shh.....I'm looking for the food, and if anything gets you, scream, 'Zebra!'." Erica murmured. "Stay here." Erica zoomed off. She ran hard, and the group of zebra started running. Erica heard many yelps from the group, but that wasn't about to stop her. Her eyes were glued to the new, small, baby zebra. Her muscles were rippling, and her heart was pounding. She ''never learned how to hunt, but she was doing so well! Her tongue licked her lips and Erica found herself drooling at the prey-scent of the zebra. Erica found that a cowardly zebra was running in the total opposite direction that it's pod; but that didn't matter right now. Erica wanted to close in on her kill. She was getting closer.....closer.....closer..... Erica was only a tail length away from her first kill. She managed to sink her claws into the zebra's ribs, and the baby struggled. It kicked Erica's stomach, making Erica queasy. She shook it off, feeling the energy burn in her muscles. Finally, Erica sank her teeth into the zebra's neck, killing it. thumb|right|400px|This is what Erica's hunt is like. Sorry, it's sad. Chapter One- Zloto Erica trotted off with her kits in front, because at any moment, the mother of the baby zebra could come back for revenge. Erica thought the mother did ''come when a yelping sound, similar to the hyena's, sounded. Erica dropped her kill, turned, and saw the frightening sight. It was a fox-like creature, except it was bigger and more powerful, and it had black stripes and markings on it's mouth, spine, paws and feet, and tail. ''And it had Sand's scent.' (That' was an italic sentence, not a thought.) Erica was frightened. It was the killer hyena that murdered Sand! Erica snagged her kill and yowled, "RUN!!" to her kits. Blood was pounding in Erica's ears. Once she and her kits were far away from the hyena, Erica noticed that she only had one kit. "Where are your brothers, Night, Lion, and Sammy?!" She yowled to the little white kit. "I...I saw them go another way, but I wanted to stay with you, mama. I...I didn't want to lose y-you." Erica's kit that she named Frost's voice was shaken. "We are going back. I want to save them," Erica's determined voice blurted out. "Me too." for the first time, Frost stood up straight confidently. Under his thick coat was Sand's powerful muscles and over his coat was Erica's white, lion-like pelt. I'm so proud of him. '' Erica crouched in the undergrowth and prowled, seeking the hyena. "I smell Killer!" Frost's mew suprised Erica. Frost squeezed through Erica and ran as fast as he could. "Frost!" Erica growled with fear. She heard a frightened cry, but was not like Frost's. The hyena staggered out of the bushes, blood dripping from his scruff. He collapsed right in front of Erica, and his breathing was shallow. He had died right before Erica thought. Erica smelled the carcass, and Frost's scent was on many of the cuts. Other cuts had the scent of another cat. Erica walked through the undergrowth, and saw the sad battleground. Blood stained the grass, and a few white and gold hairs were on the ground. Erica shifted her gaze to find Frost and a lion. "Y-you saved him..." Erica rasped. The lion narrowed his eyes. "No, he saved me," He mewed. Erica switched her attention to Frost. He only had one battle scar; a cut going from the bottom right to the top left of his eye. "No, Zloto saved ''me." Frost said. "Who?" Erica asked. "Let me pronounce it for you. Za-lo-toe." Zloto interrupted. "If you want to come to my Clan and heal, I'll let you." Erica thought about it. I'll have to leave my kit sooner or later. Maybe Zloto can take care of Frost for a little while, until he's a natural warrior. "Sure. I'll go. But," Erica mewed. "Where are the other kits?" Zloto's eyes darkened. "Sorry, Chica. They are within Nakrapiane." "The what?" "Nakrapiane. It means the spotted one in polish." "But we are in Africa!" "I am from a Polish Zoo." "Oh. What does Zloto mean, then?" "Gold." "I like how it sounds." "Thank you, Snowy Jeden." (Snowy Jeden means Snowy One.) Erica, Frost, and Zloto walked through the brush. "Mama, I see light!" Frost mewed happily. "Yes, Mr`oz. There is Znicz over there." Zloto mewed in Polish. "Translate." Erica hissed. "Mr`oz means Frost, and Znicz means light." Zloto informed. Zloto held a leaf that was blocking the pathaway, and just outside of it was a grassy African plain, with tons of lions basking in the sun. "Wow! This is amazing, Zloto." Erica mewed her thanks. Zloto turned his head to Erica. "What is your name, Chica?" "I am Erica." Erica mewed. "Erica? Erica as in Piasek's mate?" "I finally know what you mean! Sand told me his Polish name, which is Piasek. Yes, I'm his mate." "Where is the little cat?" Erica's vision turned into a real vision. There was Sand and...and...was that Zloto? It was. The two cats were matted with blood, and Nakrapiane was standing in front of them. Nakrapiane lunged at Zloto, giving him a bloody shoulder. Zloto fell to the ground and closed his eyes. Sand ran up to him and murmured something, and leaped to his paws and chased Nakrapiane away. After Sand was tired out, Nakrapiane thought he was vonrable. Nakrapiane attacked, killing Sand. Chapter Two- Introduction to the Clan Erica streched her legs. Zloto was going to show her and Frost his Clan and it's members. "Frost, wake up." Erica mewed sleepily. "OK." Erica could tell that Frost was excited about seeing the Clan. Zloto's scent reached Erica's nose and she saw Zloto come through the draping leaf door. "Awake yet?" He purred. Erica's whiskers twitched. "Well, are we?" She retorted. "Come." Zloto commanded. "Okay, first I will show you all the lions. Then we will go and explore the territory." Zloto scheduled the day for Erica. "Let's go." Zloto showed them to a couple of rocks where many lions basked. He pointed to three brown and white lions. "The first lion is called Montachello, the second lion is called Conrandio, and the third one is named Buaniratti. They all are mixed bred with an albino lion and a panther. Now those four-" Zloto signaled with his tail. "The black one is Bahgeera. She is really nice, and usually people follow her instructions because she's so firm. The brown one is Duncan, and he chose to name himself because he was an orphan, but my grandmother took him in, and now Duncan is my father. He is ambitious and easily ticked off. The cream-colored lions are Apricot and Daisy. They are so cute, but don't let looks fool you. They are mean to anyone who hates their ideas." Duncan's ears pricked when he heard his name. "Lookin' for me?" He asked Zloto. "It's alright. Papa's here-" "Stop it, Duncan!" Zloto growled. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of their nest." Duncan hissed. "See, I told you Duncan gets angry a lot!" Zloto growled. "Sorry. I-I wish my dad was better to me, that's all." Zloto leaned closer to Erica. "I have a secret. All those lions you saw has magical powers. I even have powers. But they're more powerful. I'm one of many people that are called Order of the Claws. The Order of the Claw is a book that only cats can read, not Twolegs. It's the most important thing to cats, because it gave prides and Clans of cats majestic powers, and we only consult it when even our powers can't figure out a mystery. It doesn't always have answers, but clues. We are called that because we are important to the balance of the world. Don't think all Order of the Claws are good. Some could be the sweetest fruits, or some could be the most violent storm." Erica was suprised. She could not beleive the secret Zloto just told her! Frost could have powers because Sand was decended from Zloto's Clan. She could even have powers......Nah, she couldn't. Erica was the way she was. Chapter Three- The Order of the Claws Meeting It was three moons since Erica and Frost had left the loner life and joined what Zloto called an "Improper Clan". Frost was about to be an apprentice, and he was excited. Erica sees Frost every night going, "I'm going to be an apprentice!" for about ten mintutes until she falls asleep.